We're in a series of studies
titled The Characteristics of God's Grace. In our first three
studies, we considered first the covenant of grace, because
that's what came first. You'll recall in the first study,
the covenant of grace, we spoke about the great three in one,
the covenant, the agreement, that they would be gracious to
a people. I don't want to go back and go
over all that again, but next we came to regenerating grace,
which is the works of the Holy Spirit and giving life to a dead
soul and regenerating one who was dead in sin, trespasses in
sin. And then our last meeting, we
looked and considered sanctifying grace. We next want to spend
our time together considering justifying grace. God's grace
in justifying a people, a people who by nature are unjust, a people
guilty, a people deserving of God's wrath. Listen to these
words in James 2 verse 10. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. In Romans 3.19 we read these
words, Now we know that what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Did you know that the Lord Jesus himself was made under the law? Listen to these words recorded
in Galatians 4 verses 4 through 5. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. Our Lord Jesus was just as accountable
to God's law as all mankind are. Yet He knew no sin. He is the sinless one. Everything
He did pleased the Father. The only flesh to ever be true
to God's holy law was the perfect righteous God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now it's best to try to understand
this word justify. We might consider first the word
unjust. Justify is a transitive verb. It's a word of action meaning
to make something that was or is not just. Unjust means moral
evil, iniquity, perverseness, unjustly, unrighteously, wickedness. That's according to the Strong's
Dictionary, page 2. Therefore, if all have sinned
and come short against God's holy law, then all come into
this world as unjust. Exodus 3 23 verse 7 we read these
words keep thee far from a false matter and the innocent and the
righteous slay thou not for I will not justify the wicked God's
law must be satisfied. God's holy justice must be met. And this is where God's grace
comes in. Our nakedness is not hid. We stand before the thrice holy
God, exposed in our wickedness, dead in trespasses and sin. For us to be accepted of God,
we must be justified in His sight. This is the question. In Job
25.4, how then can a man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean
that is born of a woman? God gives us the answer through
the prophet David in Psalms 51 verse 1. If you'd like to turn
in your Bibles to that, we'll give you just a moment. While
you're turning there, the title or the leading words into this
song are to the chief musician, a psalm of David, when Nathan
the prophet had came to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. David
writes these words. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. Folks, that's the only way God
has mercy on anyone. None of us. Receive mercy Except
for in the love and thy loving-kindness and that loving-kindness is a
loving-kindness that has been before the world was Jesus Christ
known as the lamb slain before the foundation of the world has
loved his people with an eternal love an Everlasting love a love
that has never begin that has always been there it never began
and it'll never end and It's eternal. It's everlasting. And His mercy is according to
thy loving kindness. According, again, unto the multitude
of thy tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions, writes
David. In verse two, he says, wash me
thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Who
is it that washes our sin? Do we get washed when we go into
the waters of baptism? No. All we do is get wet. Our
spirit, the things of our spirit must be washed clean by the Lord
himself. Wash me thoroughly from mine
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Verse three, for I acknowledge
my transgressions. Oh, oh what it is to be one who
knows the depths of their transgressions. He says, I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Folks, that's not the way of
the world. The way of the world is, I have no sin. I used to
be a sinner, but now I believe, and I'm doing this, and I'm doing
that, and I'm righteous. I've become more righteous. I'm
growing in righteousness. No, God's people know better.
This flesh will never get any better. Our only righteousness
is in our Savior. Our sin of this flesh is always
before us. Verse 4, Against thee and thee
only, writes David, writes all of God's people, have I sinned
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I
was shaped in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desireth truth in the inward parts and in the hidden
part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge, wash me with hyssop
and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy
face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Page 3.
Verse 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me. Folks, only God can deal with
the hearts of men. Only God can take the old stony
heart that we've come into this world with and take it out and
replace it with a new heart, a heart that loves Him because
He first loved us. Verse 11 says, cast me not away
from thy presence, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore
unto me the joy of Thy salvation. What depth of blessings that
is. Restore unto me the joy of Thy
salvation. You know why His salvation is
so good? Because it's easy. Take my yoke upon you, He says
to us. My burden is light. Come unto
me, all ye that are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Thy salvation, Lord, is complete
rest in your providential hand. And it says on that also, it
says, uphold me with thy free spirit. Then I will teach transgressors
thy ways. I'll go about my way in this
valley of the shadow of death, teaching those around me, those
who are transgressors as I am, thy ways. And sinners shall be
converted unto Thee. That's how the Lord converts
sinners, through the preaching of His Word. How are you going
to call on somebody you've never heard? And how are you going
to hear unless God sends a preacher? Verse 14, Deliver me from blood
guiltness, O God, Thou God of my salvation. And my tongue shall
sing aloud of Thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips, and
my mouth shall show forth thy praise. For thou desirest not
sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, that wilt not despise. Do good in thy good pleasure
unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with
the sacrifice of righteousness, with burnt offering, and whole
burnt offering. Then shall they offer bullocks
upon thine altar. As do all men, we need to be
justified before God. We cannot do it ourselves. We
cannot buy our way clean. We cannot make a decision to
be clean. There is nothing we can do because
all we are is sin. Even our good works are full
of self-righteousness, full of pride, and full of sin. Pastor
Gene used to say this quite often. He would say, there is enough
sin in my little pinky fingertip to condemn me to hell. Folks,
I remind you the wages of sin is death. For one to be justified
before God, the penalty must be paid. The sin debt must be
removed. This is accomplished by justifying
grace through the Deliverer, the Messiah, the Son of the Living
God, Jesus the Christ. His substitutionary death for
his people paid the price in full, completely satisfying God's
judgment. Christ was judged in our place. Our Lord became flesh so that
He could go to the cross and die the death of judgment. God turned His back on His Son. Can we comprehend that? Can we
comprehend the depth of God's love and that He would turn His
back upon His own Son who was dying as He was dying for our
sins? He paid the price in full. He
completely satisfied God the Father's judgment. Christ was
judged in our place. Listen to Isaiah 53, eight verses
through 11. Verses eight through 11. He was
taken from prison and from judgment and who shall declare his generation
for he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions
of my people was he stricken. And He made His grave with the
wicked and with the rich in His death. Because He had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth, yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise Him. He hath put Him to grief, and
now shall make His soul an offering for sin. He shall see His seed,
He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in His hand. He shall see the travail of His
soul and shall be satisfied. By His knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities,
justifying grace. In John 3.16, God's Word tells
us that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. So we see there is something
we must do. We must believe. This is the key Do I believe? Do I believe that God was manifest
in the flesh in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I believe
that God was manifest in the flesh and walked this earth in
perfect righteousness before God Almighty, establishing righteousness
for His chosen people? Do I believe that the precious,
wonderful, righteous blood of Christ was shed on that cross
over 2,000 years ago, that His people would be redeemed unto
Him, that His people would be washed in the blood of His Son?
Do I believe that death could not hold this One, the Lord Jesus? He who is conqueror over death,
He who is Lord of life and Lord of death, arose again to be seated
at the right hand, the hand of power with God the Father. Do
I believe? Listen to Romans chapter 3 verses
23 through 28. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish. That's what we read in John 3.16.
This is what it says, that He might be the just the just one,
the one who is perfect and upright before God, and the justifier,
the one who makes his people justified before God the Father,
of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is the boasting then? It
is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but
by the law of faith. That's the same word, faith,
believing. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Why is that so important? Folks,
the religious folks of today, they love the fact that Christ
died for someone and paid the sin for someone, but they want
a Jesus that they can manipulate their own way. They come into
the world and they say, well, that's fine that Jesus died for
you, but you must get better. You must progress. in your holiness. You must progress in your sanctification,
otherwise you're not saved. They're adding to the works of
Christ. This is what this is talking about. We're justified
by faith without the deeds of the law. And where does our faith
come from? Did we just decide one day to
believe? Did John Reeves, this foolish
Small-minded man just one day all of a sudden get smart and
say, you know what? I think I'm just gonna believe in Christ
now. No, that's not how it works at all. This is how it works
in Ephesians 2 verse 8, for by grace are you saved through faith,
through belief, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of
God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Folks, salvation is of the Lord
and the Lord alone. Even our faith is of Him. That
leaves us nothing to boast of in ourselves, but all the glory
goes to Him. In the book of Acts, The Acts
of the Apostles chapter 13, we read verse 32 through 39, and
we declare unto you glad tidings. Isn't that what the preaching
of the Gospel is? We're declaring unto sinners the good news, glad
tidings, blessed are the feet of them that bring glad tidings. How that the promise which was
made unto the fathers, God has fulfilled the same unto us. All the promises God made to
Abraham, all the promises He made to Jacob, all the promises
He made to King David, all the promises He made to Israel, God
has kept unto us, their children, in that He has raised up Jesus
again As it is also written in the second psalm, thou art my
son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that,
he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption. Well, we'll read that in a moment.
He said, on this wise, I will give you the sheer mercies of
David. Wherefore, he saith also in another psalm, thou shalt
not suffer, thine holy one, to see corruption. For David, after
he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep
and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he, he,
the Lord Jesus, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Why?
Because God only has to do something once. Unlike the prophets and
the priests of old who would go into the holiest of holies
every year and shed blood, the blood of Jesus accomplished what
it was meant to do. God only has to do something
once. He never has to do something
twice. He may say something twice in
His Word, for your and my sake to stress to us the importance
of it, but he never, ever had to do anything twice. Once was
good enough because he does it perfectly. He whom God had raised again
saw no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things. Is that not good words to a sinner,
one who has to go through this valley of the shadow of death,
dealing with the sin of this flesh, daily upon daily upon
daily? We are justified from all things. That does not give us the license
to go out and sin freely willy-nilly. No. No, because God's people
know. We know that we're sinning against
God. We know that what we do is sin against God, and it troubles
us. If you're not troubled with the
sin that is in your life, you need to get out on your hands
and knees and pray that God might shine His grace and His mercy
in your heart. And if He is shining His mercy
and His grace in your heart, then you are justified from all
things, from which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses. Romans 5, 1 through 2, we read
this, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, but whom also we have access
by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
and the glory of God. Romans 5, 8-10, but God commendeth
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath through Him. For
if when we were enemies we were reconciled by God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Now we could go on and on in
reading scripture. This is just three sections of
scripture, Acts, Romans 5. This is just three sections that
use that word justified. There are so many more that we
could spend the next three lessons just looking at that very word
and not cover it to its extent. There's so much more than we
have time to consider in one or even two studies. So allow
me to wrap this up in closing. The justification of God's elect,
as it is with all salvation, is through His Son, the Lord
Jesus. By His grace, we are saved. This is our peace. He who works
all things out according to His own will and purpose provides
all that He requires of us, and He fulfills it to His own specifications,
perfection, righteous, and just. In Romans 8, 29, we read these
words. For whom He did foreknow. Folks,
God, this word foreknow, this is an intimate knowledge. This is knowing someone personally. For whom He did know personally. for whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. He predestinated
all of those that were chosen by God the Father from before
a star ever twinkled, all of those that He foreknew. Now that
doesn't mean He foreknew somebody was going to make a decision
for Him. No, He looked down through time.
He knows that none will make a decision for Him. He's the
one who has to make the decision for them. He predestinated them to be conformed
to the image of His Son. Does that not excite you as a
Christian? Does that not excite you as a
child full of sin? That God has predestinated us
to someday be just like His Son? Someday we'll go through that
doormark death and we'll be just like Jesus without the holes
in our hands. Perfect. and righteous before
God. Do you know God looks upon us
right now as though we are as righteous as His Son? He looks
upon us and He sees our sin no more. Why? Because God the Son
took our sins as His own. Because God the Son was made
to be our sin and took that sin into the grave, shedding His
own blood. that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate
them also He called. He calls by the power of God.
Folks, Jesus Christ is not sitting around going, won't you come
unto Me? Christ never said that anywhere in His Word. He says,
come, follow Me, and they did. He said, come Lazarus. Lazarus
came. I love that statement that many
pastors have said. If God had not used the name
of Lazarus when He called him from the grave, all of the graves
would have opened up. That's the power of God's call. And whom He called, them He also
justified. Made holy. Made perfect. Made just. and whom He justified,
them He also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? And here's a verse that just lays so precious to my heart. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Folks, I know that's tough for
you and I to deal with in this life where we walk through this
valley of the shadow of death, where our sin is ever before
us in this flesh. But if God be for me, Who can be against me? Can John
be against himself? No. Let's read on with that.
Verse 32, He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him
up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us
all things? God gave His only begotten Son. What is everything else? He gave
everything in His Son. What is everything else? We,
I've mentioned this before, you know, Bill, my good friend Bill
and I, we used to talk all day long on driving around. I was
driving around in my truck and he was home and Bill was disabled. So he was able to talk and we
would, we would, Fun along a little bit at times. What is heaven
like? Yeah, you've done that. What's heaven gonna be like?
And it always came back. And you know, we fun around with
that a little bit. You joke, you know, I bet you my Harley
doesn't leak any oil when I'm in heaven. But that's just fun
and around. The truth of the matter is this.
What is it like in heaven? I'll tell you what it's like
in heaven. You're in the presence of the almighty God, Jesus Christ,
our Lord. That's where heaven is. And wherever
Jesus is, that's where I want to be. He spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him of how she and I ought to freely give
us all things. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather than is risen again. Who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation
or distress, persecution or famine, nakedness or peril, or the sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. And Paul closes verses 38 through
39, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate me, us, from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. I share with you this phrase
that has been shared with me over and over again. The difficulties
of going to the pulpit and preaching the same message every Sunday,
every Friday night. The people that are so much more
knowledgeable in Scripture than I am who come to me and say,
John, if you'll just go a little deeper, if you just go a little
deeper into God's Word, I'm going to ask you something. What could
be more deeper? What could be more important
than Jesus Christ and Him crucified? What more do you need in life
than Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Keep on keeping on. You may not
feel the Lord is close by, but that's why we trust not in the
flesh. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Lord, I believe. Help thou mine
unbelief. Philippians 3, verses 1-3, we
read these words, Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
To write the same things to you, to me indeed, is not grievous,
but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil
workers, beware of the concision, for we are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. That includes your feelings.
That includes your thoughts. Everything about this body is
nothing but sin from top of my head to the bottom of my feet.
You want to trust in something? Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
and what He has done. Believe on Him and thou shalt
be saved. The definition of the word just
According to the Strong's Dictionary is this, number one, one who
is righteous before God, and it gives an example of that.
Genesis 6 verse 9, these are the generations of Noah. Noah
was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked
with God. Secondly, it's Definition is
exact. It's accurate. A just one is
exact and accurate. Our Lord gives us an example
of that in Leviticus 19, 35-36. You shall do no unrighteousness
in judgment, in meteoryard, or in weight, or in measure. Just
balances. Just weight. A just ipha, a just
hen shall ye have. I am the Lord your God, which
brought you out of the land of Egypt. And thirdly, the word
just means honest and upright. And we see in Luke chapter 23,
50, and behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counselor, and
he was a good man and a just. In most revisions, men have used
the word righteous in place of just. But wait a minute, John. Was not Lot also called just? Why, yes, he was. 2 Peter 2,
verses 4-9, we read these words, For if God spared not the angels
at sin, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into
chains of darknesses, to be reserved unto judgment, and spared not
the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher
of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the
ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes,
condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those
that after should live ungodly, and delivered just Lot." There
you go. The Lord calls Lot just. vexed
with filthy conversation of the wicked, for that righteous man
dwelling among them and seeing and hearing vexed his righteous
soul from day to day." Does that not sound like the world that
we live in today? Are not our souls vexed with
the world around us? Our loved ones who know not God? The laws of this land who have
turned wickedness into righteousness, who have turned righteousness
into wickedness? Good into evil, evil into good. Does that not
sound the same as what Lot was in? The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust until
the day of judgment to be punished. How can Lot be called just? He
took what belonged to Abraham. Abraham was the elder. Abraham
should have taken what he desired in the land, but he gave to Lot
the decision, and Lot, instead of taking the lower lands, he
took the highlands, the rich lands, the lands that should
have gone to his uncle Abraham. And then he dallied about when
he was told to leave Sodom. When the angels came and told
him, you've got to leave. Get your family and leave this
place. We're going to destroy the city. He just dallied about
like, OK, well, let me go get this done first. Let me go take
care of this. You know what? I left my coffee in the microwave. I need to go take care of that. The angels of the Lord had to
drag him out. And then he got drunk. And he
slept with his two daughters. How could he be called justified? The same way you and I are, by
God's grace, by the righteous blood of the one who is just
and the justifier. I read again Romans 3 verse 24
through 26, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say at this time, His righteousness,
that He might be just and the justifier of Him. which believeth
in Jesus. Do you believe? Folks, in 2 Corinthians 5.21,
we read these words. For He hath made Him, for God
the Father hath made Him, God the Son, to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. That's justifying grace. Amen.